Official launch of “Enabling Economic Independence for the Specially Abled Person” project.

Statement by Fredrick Ampiah, UNDP Resident Representative

Sierra Palms Hotel, Lumley Beach, 11^th July 2025

Honourable Minister of Social Welfare

His Excellency, The High Commissioner of India to Sierra Leone

Chairman, National Commission for Persons with Disabilities 

President, Sierra Leone Union of Disability Issues (SLUDI)

The Fourth Estate,

Ladies and gentlemen,

Distinguished guests.

It’s a great honour to join you today at the official launch of this transformative initiative "Enabling Economic Independence for Specially Abled Persons" in Sierra Leone. 

This project is a testament to the power of partnership. It brings together the Government of Sierra Leone, the Government of India, and UNDP in a shared commitment to advancing the rights, dignity, and economic empowerment of persons with disabilities.

In Sierra Leone, persons with disabilities face persistent structural, social, and economic barriers. These include limited access to education, employment, healthcare, and public infrastructure. The 2021 Population and Housing Census revealed that approximately 9.3% of the population lives with a disability. A recent youth status study (2025) further highlighted that 63% of young people with disabilities, including young mothers, rely on charitable contributions for survival. 

These challenges are even more acute for women and girls with disabilities, who face compounded discrimination. Persons with Disabilities are among the most vulnerable groups in Sierra Leone. Persons with disabilities in Sierra Leone face structural, social, and economic challenges including physical barriers, negative societal attitudes and economic disparities that hinder their full participation in society. 

This project is not just timely, it is essential. It offers a practical and inclusive pathway to economic self-reliance. Through South-South Cooperation, and with the generous support of the Government of India, we will equip persons with disabilities with marketable skills, tailored education, livelihood centres, and access to finance and markets. These are not handouts, they are investments in human potential.

Over the past years, UNDP has actively supported disability inclusion interventions in Sierra Leone, working collaboratively with a range of partners to promote equity, empowerment, and resilience among persons with disabilities (PWDs). Key interventions include:

•        Provision of stipends and food items to persons with disabilities during the COVID-19 pandemic as safety nets, alongside support for accessible health awareness materials in Braille and sign language.

•        Establishment and equipping of skills centers for persons with disabilities, complemented by training programmes and the provision of food for beneficiaries.

•        Support for policy and programming initiatives to ensure that PWDs are informed, engaged, and empowered to contribute to sustainable human development and community resilience.

•        Assistance in the review of the Persons with Disability Act (2011) to better address the evolving needs and rights of PWDs in Sierra Leone.

•        Development and rollout of a training manual on disability rights, targeting duty bearers and rights holders including lawmakers, Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), leadership of Organizations of Persons with Disabilities (OPDs), health providers, the justice sector, Parliament, and the National Commission for Persons with Disabilities (NCPD).

•        Support for the establishment of the Disability Development Fund in Sierra Leone, aimed at enhancing the economic empowerment of PWDs and supplementing government efforts in financing development projects for this community. All of these efforts reflect UNDP’s broader commitment to the principle of 'leaving no one behind'. 

Today’s launch is not merely ceremonial, it is a call to action. It underscores that inclusion is not charity, but justice not about sympathy, but about rights and not optional, but essential to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.

In a special way, I express my profound appreciation to the Government of India through the High Commission in Sierra Leone, and the Ministry of Social Welfare for the longstanding partnership with UNDP in promoting Disability inclusion.

Let us work together, governments, development partners, civil society, and most importantly, persons with disabilities themselves, to ensure that no one is left behind.

I thank you all for listening.